Media freedom hits 10-year low: report

Freedom of expression and information has hit the lowest point in a decade worldwide, with Poland, Croatia, Romania, Russia and Hungary among the offenders, according to a report published Wednesday.

Rights organization Article 19, which published the report, said the decline is “being driven by worldwide demise of media freedom” and a rise in “strongman” politics. The NGO highlighted the fact that 78 journalists and 312 rights defenders were killed around the world in 2017, and 326 journalists jailed.

According to the report, global freedom of expression has been dropping for a decade, but took a particularly steep tumble over the past three years, including in EU countries.

Article 19 singled out Poland for criticism, noting that independent journalists and media outlets in the country had faced intimidation and state media was moved under government control.

The report also highlighted incidents including former Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico referring to the media as “filthy anti-Slovak prostitutes” and “idiotic hyenas” and Czech President Miloš Zeman brandishing a fake Kalashnikov inscribed with the word “journalists” at a press conference.

Hungary “has become increasingly autocratic,” the report noted, “passing one of Europe’s most repressive laws against non-governmental organizations” in 2017. “Prior to the general election in 2018, pro-government media published articles that discredited journalists, and by October 2017, [Prime Minister Viktor] Orbán had effectively bought up all of Hungary’s regional media.”

The decline of media freedom in the United States is “one of the most worrying developments,” according to Article 19.

The ability of American journalists to do their jobs is being undermined by “attacks, arrests, border stops, searches of devices, prosecution of whistleblowers and restrictions on the release of public information,” the report noted.

In Russia, “the pressure on the media, legal restrictions, threats, and violence against communicators and rights defenders have escalated year on year” since Vladimir Putin returned to the presidency in 2012.

The report also took aim at “the narrative of fake news,” which “has been seized upon by world leaders, including Aung San Suu Kyi, Bashar al-Assad and Nicolás Maduro, to openly attack the media and close down scrutiny of their policies and actions.”

This article has been updated to correct the nationality of Slovak journalist Ján Kuciak.